Surah An-Nisa: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

O people! Be mindful of Allah, who created you and your spouses from the same essence, as many men and women. Be aware of your responsibilities toward Allah, in whose name you swear oaths when you claim your rights from one another. Guard against opposing Him and against severing the ties of kinship. Surely Allah sees and watches over how you live.

O believers! If there are orphans under your protection, do not exchange their property for your own worthless property, nor mix it with yours and so consume it. This is a very great sin; give them back their property, which you have protected until they come of age.

If you fear that you will not be able to protect the rights of women who have lost their husbands in war or for other reasons, and of the children left orphaned, then marry of those women, by mutual consent, two, three, or four; but if you fear you cannot treat them justly, then marry only one, either a free woman or a slave woman taken captive in war, by a marriage contract. Doing so is more right in that you will not depart from right and justice.

Give the women you marry their dowers with a glad heart, expecting nothing in return; but if they of their own accord give up part of their dowers, you may accept that as it is.

Do not hand over to orphans, before their judgment has matured, the property of orphans that Allah has entrusted to you to protect. Feed and clothe the orphans from the income of this property, and explain this to them in a fitting manner.

When you are sure that the orphans in your charge have reached the age of puberty and maturity at which they may marry, hand over their property to them without delay. Never spend and use up the orphans’ property before they grow up, for fear that they will take it back. Let the one who is rich and has no need of the property act virtuously and honorably; and those who need the orphan’s property may make use of it as is customary and reasonable, only as much as they need. When you hand over their property to the orphans, be sure to have witnesses present; do not forget that Allah will call you to account for what you do.

Of what parents and relatives leave as inheritance, men have a share, and women likewise have a share.

When the inheritance is being shared out, if there are relatives who are not heirs, orphans, or poor people present, set aside a share of the inheritance for them too, and speak kind words to them and gladden their hearts.

Let those who fear that, should they die, they would leave behind children too young and needy to look after themselves think of the orphans of others in just this way, as their own children. Let them not forget that they are responsible to Allah in this matter; let them fear Allah and respect the rights of the orphan and the poor.

Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly fill their bellies with fire. They will be condemned to a terrible fire in Hell.

O you who believe! Concerning the sharing of inheritance among children, parents, and siblings, Allah commands you thus: a son’s share is twice a daughter’s share; if the deceased’s children are daughters only and more than two, they receive two-thirds of the inheritance; if the deceased has only one daughter, then half the inheritance belongs to her.

If the deceased’s mother and father are living and the deceased has a child or children, then each of the parents receives a sixth. If the deceased has no child and his mother and father are living, a third of the inheritance is given to the mother and the rest to the father. If the deceased has brothers and sisters and the parents are also living, then the mother receives a sixth.

This sharing is done after the bequest of the person who leaves the inheritance has been carried out, and after any debts he could not pay in his lifetime have been paid.

O believers! You cannot know which of your parents and your children is more deserving of, and better for, the inheritance you will leave. Without doubt it is Allah alone who knows the one absolute truth of everything and is right in His every ruling.

O you who believe! If your deceased wives have no children, half of what they leave is yours. If they have children, a quarter of what remains after their bequests have been carried out and any debts paid is yours. If the deceased is a man and his wife survives him, and they have no children, a quarter of the inheritance is the wife’s. It is shared out thus after his bequest has been carried out and any debts paid.

If the deceased man leaves a child or children, then his wife’s share is an eighth. After the bequest has been carried out and the debts paid, if the deceased man or woman has no first-degree heir such as a child or parent, but has a brother and a sister, each of them receives a sixth of the inheritance. If they are more than two, then, again after bequests and debts have been deducted, they receive a third of the inheritance. In no way should these limits be overstepped and the heirs harmed or their rights violated. These are the rulings Allah has laid down. Allah knows the one absolute truth of everything. Allah is most merciful and compassionate toward His believing servants. With these rulings Allah has set your limits.

Those who live without violating the limits He has set, and obey Him and His Messenger, Allah will place in Gardens through which rivers flow; that is the greatest gain. But whoever disregards Allah’s limits and knowingly oversteps them, Allah will cast such people into the fire of Hell, where they will remain forever.

If any of your women commit an indecency, bring four of you to bear witness to their indecency. If these people bear true witness to the act, then keep those women under watch in their homes until death comes to them or Allah opens a way for them.

If indecency occurs between two men, punish them too, causing them pain. After they have suffered their punishment, do not pursue further those who repent and mend their ways.

Allah forgives those who repent sincerely and mend their ways, for Allah is merciful.

The repentance Allah accepts is repentance for sins committed in ignorance, without knowing they were sins. Allah forgives those who realize these are sins, repent, and turn to the truth. Allah is most merciful and compassionate toward such servants.

Allah will never accept the repentance of those who go on sinning until death comes upon them and repent with their last breath. For such people there is a very painful punishment.

O you who believe! It is not lawful for you to marry by force women whose husbands have died in order to seize their inheritance. Unless they have committed an open indecency, do not put pressure on your wives to take back part of the dower you gave them. Treat your wives justly and kindly. They may have traits you dislike, but if you are patient, Allah may make those very traits you dislike a cause of good for you; Allah knows what is right, and you do not.

If you divorce your wife and have to marry another woman, do not ask for back the dower you once gave the wife you have divorced, however large it may be, and never resort to slander for this purpose, for to act so is a great sin. How can you ask them to return their dowers when you were once intimate with one another and they have rights over you arising from the marriage contract?

What is past is past; from now on, do not marry the women your fathers have divorced; this is truly a most shameful deed and a very evil way.

Forbidden to you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, the daughters of your brothers and sisters, your foster mothers who nursed you, your foster sisters, your wives’ mothers, and the daughters from former husbands of the wives with whom you have consummated marriage. But there is no harm in your marrying the daughters of wives whom you married and divorced before consummating the marriage. The former wives of your own sons are forbidden to you. Marrying two sisters at the same time is also forbidden. What was done before Allah’s revelation came is in the past. Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward the believers.

It is also forbidden for you to marry married women other than the women you have lawfully wed by marriage contract. All these are among the rulings Allah has made known to you. It has been made lawful for you to marry women other than those mentioned, giving them their dowers, so as to live a chaste family life and keep away from unlawful sexual relations. There is no harm either if you later increase or decrease, by mutual consent, the dowers you fixed and agreed upon beforehand.

Allah knows the one absolute truth of everything and prevents corruption through the rulings He lays down.

As for those among you who cannot afford to marry a free woman, have them marry believing slave women in your possession, if you have any. Allah knows whose faith is sincere. You are all equal to one another, of like kind. Marry them with their guardians’ permission, giving them their modest dowers as is customary, on condition that they are chaste, do not commit unlawful sexual relations (zina), and do not take secret lovers. If, after marriage, they commit zina, apply to them half the punishment for zina to be given to free women. Let believers who fear falling into zina marry; yet of course it is better for believers to keep away from zina despite the hardship of being single.

Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward the believers.

Allah is making known to you the rulings on what is lawful and unlawful in the religion made up of the order and morality of Islam. Thus He wishes to lead you too onto the path of the earlier prophets and the communities that followed them, and to forgive you. Allah knows everything fully, and His every ruling is right.

While Allah wishes to forgive and reward those who strive to live and keep alive the Islamic life that is the reason for your creation, those who are slaves to their lusts and run after unlawful passions wish to lead people away from the right path.

Allah wishes to lighten your burden through the rulings He lays down, for most people cannot resist the desires of their selves.

O you who believe! Do not consume one another’s property unjustly, even with mutual consent, and so ruin one another; carry on trade among yourselves within lawful limits.

Whoever uses trade with hostile intent, as a means of oppression, We will, when the time comes, condemn to the punishment of the Fire. That is very easy for Allah.

O you who believe! If you avoid and keep away from the major sins, such as associating partners with Allah, choosing disbelief, killing a person, unlawful sexual relations, false witness, slander, and consuming the property of orphans, We will forgive your minor sins and settle you in Gardens where you will live in honor and happiness.

Do not envy one another or harbor jealousy because of the blessings Allah has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others. Just as men have a share with Allah for the effort they put forth to live Allah’s call, so women who show this effort have a share and a gain; in this respect both are equal in Allah’s sight.

Seek Allah’s good pleasure by obeying Him. Surely Allah knows everything fully and does what is absolutely right.

We have made known who is to receive what share of the inheritance left by the deceased, and how much. Give their shares also to parents, close relatives, and those with whom a pledge concerning inheritance has been made. Do not forget that Allah sees everything you do.

Men are charged with protecting and looking after women and meeting the needs of the family. For this reason, in their responsibilities within the family, they are a degree ahead of and above women.

Righteous and virtuous women are faithful and obedient women who obey Allah’s commands, respect their husbands in what pleases Him and cause no trouble, and in their husbands’ absence guard their chastity and honor, which Allah has commanded to be guarded.

As for quarrelsome women who rebel against their believing husbands, first counsel them. If counsel does no good, separate your beds; if they still do not mend their ways, find a corrective course that will lead them to mend their ways. If they give up their negative conduct, put what has happened behind you and forgive them. Allah the Most High is aware of what you do.

If you fear that the problems between husband and wife will lead to divorce, appoint an arbiter each from the man’s and the woman’s families to mediate and set things right between them. If both sides strive in good faith to resolve the disagreement, Allah too will make their efforts succeed and reconcile the spouses.

Without doubt Allah knows what is right in everything and has power over everything.

Take Allah alone as God and hold fast to the order and morality of Islam, which is the reason for your creation; only thus will you not have associated partners with Allah and will have served Him alone. Treat well and do good to your parents, your relatives, orphans and the poor, your neighbors near and far, stranded travelers, your friends, the spouses you have lawfully taken, and the men and women in your service. Do not forget that Allah does not love the arrogant who are full of themselves.

Allah does not love those who are stingy and urge others to stinginess, who hide the blessings their Lord has bestowed on them and do not use them in His way. Allah has prepared for those who associate partners with Him, who deny the truth, and for the hypocrites a humiliating and ruinous punishment in Hell.

Allah does not love those who do not believe in the Day of the Hereafter and spend their wealth only for show. Their friend is Satan, and who could be worse than one whose friend is Satan?

What harm would it have done them had they too believed in the Day of the Hereafter, followed Allah’s call, and spent in His way, without show, from the blessings He bestowed?

The truth is this: Allah leaves no one’s deed unrewarded and does not wrong anyone by so much as an atom’s weight. Allah rewards abundantly, in this world and the Hereafter, what is done to win His good pleasure.

On the Day of Reckoning We will call from every community someone to bear witness to their attitude toward Our call. O Prophet! We will take you too as witness over your own community and the communities after you. Woe to them on that Day!

Those who stubbornly persist in living associating partners with Allah, denying the truth, and in hypocrisy, and who oppose and attack the Prophet and the call he makes in Allah’s name, will wish on that Day to be leveled with the earth, to mix with the soil and vanish, and they will see that nothing they did was hidden from Allah.

O believers! Do not go near the prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying, nor while you are in a state of major ritual impurity (junub), until you have performed the full ablution (ghusl).

If you are on a journey or ill, or have relieved yourselves, or have had sexual relations with your wives, and in such situations you cannot find water or have no means of using it, then perform tayammum by wiping your hands, faces, and arms with clean earth. Do not forget that Allah wishes ease for believers in difficulty. He is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving.

Do you see those who were given a share of the divine Books? They want you too, like them, to ignore Allah’s revelation and return to the order of shirk and disbelief, and they mobilize their means to this end. O believers! They are your enemies; never take them as friends. Allah is warning you against them; Allah knows best who your enemies are. Allah is enough as a friend, and Allah suffices as a helper.

Some of the Jews, in order to confuse the Muslims and draw them away from Islam, distort words by tearing them from their original context and meaning so that they come to mean something else. In place of “We have heard and we obey,” they change it to “We have heard and we defy.” Yet had they only said, “We have heard and we obey; listen to us; check whether we have understood rightly; warn us,” it would have been for their good. Allah has cursed them because they knowingly reject the truth.

O you who were given the Book (revelation) in the past! Follow the Quran, which confirms the truths remaining in the Book in your hands. Before the day comes when We wipe out some faces and level them flat, or before We punish you as We did your forefathers, whom We cursed for violating the Sabbath (Saturday) prohibition, believe in the divine order to which you are invited and be among those who are saved.

Allah will never forgive associating partners with Him (shirk). But He forgives minor sins if He wills.

Those who claim to be Allah’s chosen servants and that they will enter Paradise, and try to declare themselves pure, only deceive themselves. The truth is that those whom Allah will declare pure are only those who believe and consciously fulfill their responsibilities. Allah does no wrong to anyone. Who could be more unjust, more astray, and more sinful than those who ascribe to Allah the lies they invent?

Those in whose Book very little knowledge of the truth remains turn to and submit to the orders of life invented by those who call them to serve others than Allah; and as if this were not enough, they claim that those who adopt the orders of shirk and disbelief are more rightly guided than the believers.

These are the ones Allah has cursed, and there is no one who can help those whom Allah has cursed. Or do such people regard themselves as partners in Allah’s dominion and think they have the right to rule over His servants? Had they been given authority over Allah’s dominion, they would not give people even the skin of a tiny seed.

Those who claim to be People of the Book envy Allah’s bestowing prophethood, and with it a Book, on someone not of their own people. Yet in the past We bestowed on Abraham, their own forefather too, and on his descendants Books along with prophethood, and granted them kingdoms.

Despite this, some of them refused the call of Abraham and of the prophets descended from him too, and turned away. Such people will be punished with the fire of Hell they deserve.

Those who stubbornly turn away despite Our inviting them to live in keeping with the reason for their creation, We will, when the time comes, put into a fire that will scorch their skins; and so that they may suffer the punishment again and again, We will clothe them in new skins and burn them anew.

Allah is the Possessor of supreme power, and His every ruling is absolutely right.

Those who believe in Allah’s call and strive to live the life their faith requires, We will settle in Gardens through which rivers flow, to remain there forever. There We will give them pure spouses, untouched, and reward them with happiness beneath spreading shade.

Allah commands you to entrust trusts (duties and responsibilities) to those competent to bear them, and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice. Thus Allah gives you the finest of counsel.

Allah knows the absolute truth of everything and prevents corruption through the laws He lays down.

O you who believe! Obey Allah, the Prophet, and those from among you whom you have chosen as your leaders to judge among you by Allah’s rulings. When you fall into disagreement over a matter, refer it for resolution to Allah and the Prophet (the Quran and the Sunnah); do so if you believe wholeheartedly in Allah and the Day of the Hereafter; this is what is most right and best for you.

O Prophet! Will you look at what these hypocrites do, who say they believe in you and in the Books sent down before you? For the settlement of their disagreements they seek justice from the orders of taghut (false authority) instead of the justice of the divine order. Yet they had been commanded to reject the order of anyone other than Allah. And that order of taghut is their greatest enemy.

Whenever you invite such two-faced people to settle their problems by the rulings of the Book Allah has sent down, you see them turn away from you. But when they cannot solve their problems by the laws of the orders of shirk to which they have recourse, and find themselves in trouble, they come to you at once, swearing oaths in Allah’s name and saying, “We turned to them only out of good intentions, so that they might bring about a settlement between us.”

Allah knows full well what is in their hearts. Pay them no heed; counsel them and invite them to what is true.

We sent every prophet to be obeyed. Had those who seek justice from the orders of taghut admitted that by this conduct they had wronged themselves, repented and come to you, and had you, as prophet, asked your Lord to forgive them, they would have attained Allah’s compassion, mercy, and pardon.

By your Lord, they will not have believed until they turn, in the matters on which they disagree, to the rulings of the Quran and to your arbitration, and submit to the judgment that results with complete submission, feeling no unease or resentment in their hearts.

Had We commanded those hypocrites, “For the sake of living the life that is the reason for your creation, sacrifice your lives if need be, or leave your homelands if need be,” very few of them would have agreed to do it. Yet had they followed what they were counseled and invited to, it would have been better for them, and they would have attained true faith. We would then have helped them and rewarded them with guidance.

Let those who believe in Allah’s call and fulfill what it requires know well that in the Hereafter they will be with the prophets, on whom Allah has bestowed blessings, with those who are true to the word they gave Allah, and with the martyrs. To be with such virtuous, righteous, fine people is a great gain. This is the reward Allah promises those who believe and submit. Allah knows best who is worthy of reward. Allah suffices as the One who knows what is most right in everything.

O you who believe! Prepare beforehand against your enemies and take your precautions. When war becomes necessary, go out to battle in detachments or all together; among you there will be hypocrites who drag their feet over going out to battle, invent baseless excuses to escape it, and do not join you. If you are defeated in battle, they say, “It is a good thing I did not join the battle; had I been with them, who knows what would have befallen me; Allah protected me.” But if, with Allah’s help, you win the battle, then, as if you had never invited them, or as if there were no bond between you, they will put the past aside and say, “If only I too had been with them, and had a share in the blessings of this success.”

Let those who prefer the everlasting life of Paradise and its blessings to the brief and fleeting worldly life fight the aggressors for the sake of living and keeping alive the order and morality of Islam that is Allah’s call. Whoever dies or is killed in Allah’s way, or comes home a veteran (ghazi), Allah will bring to the greatest of rewards.

O you who believe! What is wrong with you, that you do not fight in Allah’s way for the oppressed, the old, weak, and helpless men, women, and children who pray and plead, “Our Lord! Rescue us from this order of oppression of those who associate partners with You and deny the truth, and in Your mercy send us a rescuer, a protector, to take care of us”?

Those who believe fight those who attack them for the sake of the order of life that is Allah’s call.

Those who partner with Satan and set up orders of shirk and disbelief, and those who follow them, fight for their orders of taghut.

So, O you who believe! Fight those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, who attack you, the friends and partners of Satan; do not forget that the scheming of Satan and of those who have become satanic is both very simple and very weak.

To those who had earlier asked you for permission to fight those who associated partners with Allah, it had been said, “For now keep away from fighting, perform your prayers scrupulously and consciously, and, using your material means, support the call on the one hand and purify yourselves on the other.”

But now, when it is said, “The time to fight has come, and fighting has been made obligatory for you,” you see some of those same people fearing the enemy as one fears Allah, or even more. What is more, they plead, “Our Lord! Why have You made fighting obligatory for us? Could You not have put it off a little longer?”

Say to them: “The life of this world and its pleasures are brief and fleeting, but for those who strive (jihad) in Allah’s way the blessings of Paradise in the life of the Hereafter are lasting and better.”

On the Day of Reckoning everyone will receive the recompense for the choice he made in worldly life, without being wronged in any way.

Wherever you are, death will surely find you! Even if you are in fortresses on steep slopes, in the most strongly built castles, death will catch you.

When the hypocrites, who are two-faced before the fighting Allah has commanded, attain some good or benefit, they say, “This is from Allah”; but when they meet with a calamity or hardship and something bad befalls them, they set about blaming you, saying, “This has befallen us because of you.” O Prophet! Say to them: “The good and the bad that befall you are both by reason of the laws Allah has laid down and of His test.” Though this is the truth, many of them do not wish to understand what is said or to grasp the truth.

It is Allah who lays down and makes known the laws of good and of evil, and it is the human being who makes his choice for one of them. Allah lets each person live according to his choice; Allah also tests a person by graciously granting him certain blessings or by allowing him to meet with calamities, and He rewards with blessings the one who succeeds in the test. Pay no heed to those who still say, “The good that befalls us is from Allah; if any evil comes, it is from you”!

O Prophet! We have sent you as a messenger to make these truths known to people. Allah suffices as witness to this.

Whoever follows and obeys what the Prophet says and does in Allah’s name has obeyed Allah. And whoever does not obey and turns away, let him know that We have not sent you as a keeper over them.

When the hypocrites come to you, they say, “All that you say is true, and we too believe in your call and have faith.” But after they leave you, a group of them gathers by night and says the very opposite of what they said to you, and lays traps against you and against the order and morality of Islam to which you invite. Surely Allah is recording their schemes. Pay them no heed and carry on with your call; trust and rely on Allah; Allah is enough as a guardian (helper).

They do not reflect on the Quran. Had the Quran been a Book from anyone other than Allah, there would have been many contradictions and inconsistencies in it.

Some weak-willed people, in whose hearts faith has not yet settled firmly, when they hear any news, good or bad, concerning the Muslims’ security or concerning war or peace, spread it about at once without checking whether it is true. Yet had they, instead of doing so, passed on the news they heard to the Prophet and to those competent believers who have been given authority, these would have learned the truth of the matter, taken precautions accordingly, and done what was needed. Had it not been for Allah’s warning, His help, and His mercy, all but a few of you would have fallen into the trap of Satan and of those who have become his playthings.

(O Prophet!) Fight in Allah’s way as far as you are able, even if you are left alone! In this matter you are responsible for yourself; and urge the believers to fight the aggressors. Allah will surely break the aggressors’ strength. Allah’s power suffices for everything, and His punishment is very severe.

Whoever becomes a means (intercedes) for a good work in Allah’s way will have a reward for it. And whoever leads the way (intercedes) in an evil, harmful work will also be called to account for this deed and receive its penalty.

Allah knows best who strives for what, and gives the recompense for it.

O believers! If your enemies offer you the greeting of peace, which is an offer of peace, answer them with a better one, or the same. Allah knows the one absolute truth of everything and keeps the record of what you do.

You have no god but Allah. Allah will gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning, whose coming is certain.

Who could be truer in word than Allah?

O believers! What is wrong with you, that you are divided into two camps, in doubt as to whether those whom Allah has abased and excluded from His mercy because of their traps, their double-dealing, and their hypocrisy are believers or not? Will you guide to the right path those whom Allah has left in error because they stubbornly opposed the right path? No one can bring to guidance one whom Allah has left in error because he deserved it.

The hypocrites who collaborate with those who associate partners with Allah want the believers too to be, like them, two-faced people who have strayed into disbelief, and they call them to it. Do not take them as friends and confidants until you are sure that they have completely cut their ties with those who associate partners with Allah, emigrated to join you, and truly believed. If they do not believe or change their state, but continue to act with hostility, seize them and kill them wherever you find them; from them you will never have either a friend or a companion.

Do not touch those who take refuge with a people with whom you have a peace treaty, or who come to you not wishing to fight either you or their own people. In fact, if they believed they were stronger than you, they would not hold back from fighting you. Allah has kept them away from you. Should they offer peace, Allah is not pleased with your attacking and harming them.

There are also some hypocrites who wish to be on bad terms neither with you nor with their own people. Saying that their interests require them to live at peace with both communities, they act calculating how to guarantee their own safety. But whenever they are called to some mischief against the believers, they at once rush to answer the call of those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth. If these do not make a peace agreement with you and do not stop harming you, kill them wherever you find them. Allah has given you clear authority concerning them.

It is unthinkable that a believer should kill another believer; this can happen only by mistake, in error. Whoever kills a believer by mistake must set free a believing slave and pay blood money (diya) to the family of the deceased; but if the family of the deceased pardons the killer and waives the blood money, this obligation is lifted.

If the person killed by mistake, though a believer, belongs to a tribe that is hostile to you, then the price to be paid will be only to set free a believing slave. If the person killed belongs to a community with which you have a peace treaty, then the killer will both pay blood money to the family of the deceased and set free a believing slave. Those who cannot afford to do these things must fast for two consecutive months, so that Allah may accept their repentance.

Allah knows the absolute truth of everything, and His every ruling is perfectly right.

And whoever kills a believer deliberately, his penalty will be Hell, to remain there forever. Allah will curse him and inflict a terrible punishment on him.

O you who believe! When you set out to fight in Allah’s way, investigate carefully and try to understand the state of those you come across; do not reach for your weapons before you understand that someone is an enemy and determined to fight. And do not kill one who greets you in the Muslim way and offers peace, claiming, out of greed for the goods of worldly life and for the sake of spoils, that he is not a Muslim; the best of gains is that which is with Allah.

You too were once like them. Now, by Allah’s grace, you have turned to what is right, grown strong, and become sure of yourselves. So be very careful; do not rush to judgment about anyone before you have understood and listened properly. Allah sees and knows what you are doing.

The truth is that those who say they are believers yet, with no valid excuse, do not join the campaign to fight those who attack you, but stay at home, are certainly not equal to those who fight in Allah’s way, putting forward their wealth and their lives.

Allah has raised those who strive their utmost with their wealth and their lives above those who stay at home, and deemed them worthy of high ranks. The reward of the believers who stay where they are and of those who go ahead will naturally not be the same. With Allah every believer’s degree and rank is different.

Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward the believers.

When the angels take the souls of those who wronged themselves by turning away from Allah’s call, they will ask, “What did you do for Allah?” They will say, “We were oppressed, left powerless, weak people, and so we could do nothing.” At this the angels will say to them, “Was Allah’s earth not wide enough for you to emigrate?” The destination of such people will be Hell; what an evil destination it is!

But those men, women, and children who, though wishing to emigrate and join the believers, truly could not manage it and found no way because of their genuine excuses, their helplessness, frailty, and weakness, will not be punished. It may be that Allah will pardon them. Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward the believers.

Whoever leaves the order of shirk and disbelief to live the Islamic life that is the reason for his creation, Allah will bring him to a place on earth where he will live in plenty, peace, and security. And whoever leaves his home for this purpose and then dies on the way will attain Allah’s reward. Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward such servants.

O believers! When you set out on campaign for war, there is no harm in your shortening your prayers for fear of a sudden attack by the enemy, for your enemies wish to watch for their chance.

O Prophet! When you lead the believers in prayer at the front, let one group, armed, prostrate with you while the others stand guard behind them. When these have prostrated, let them take up the guard, and let the others come and prostrate behind you and pray. Let these too be armed, for those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth wish to seize the moment when you lay down your weapons, your equipment of war, and defeat you by a sudden raid. If during the prayer you are troubled by rain, or are ill, you may lay your weapons beside you, but be very careful in every case. Allah has prepared, by your hands, a humiliating punishment for those who associate partners with Him and deny the truth.

When the prayer is over and you rise, never let Allah slip from your minds, sitting, lying down, in every state and situation, at all times. When the danger of the enemy has passed and you are safe, perform the prayer in full, as usual, for the prayer is an obligation on the believers to be performed at set times.

Do not be slack or hesitant in pursuing the enemy army, and never give up the chase. Do not forget that if you suffer hardship during the pursuit, they will suffer more, from fear of being pursued. Moreover, the hardships you suffer have a great reward with Allah, while for those who associate partners with Him and deny the truth there is hardship and punishment in this world and the Hereafter.

O Prophet! We have sent you this Quran (to make known why people were created and how they should live) so that you may judge and give rulings among people as Allah has made known to you. Never be the defender of the traitors who turn away from the order of life to which the Quran invites; do not be taken in by their show of closeness to you and their words, and give wrong rulings without investigating the truth! Should you fall into such an error, ask your Lord for forgiveness; Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward His believing servants.

The wrongdoers who betray their own selves by choosing the path of denying Allah’s call have nothing in them that can be defended. Allah does not love such people who wrong themselves. They may hide what they do from people, but they cannot hide it from Allah. Indeed, when they gathered by night, making plans and laying traps that would not please Allah, Allah was right beside them. Allah is aware of everything and knows all that happens and all that will happen.

Suppose you undertook to defend these people in their worldly life! But then who will be able to defend them against Allah on the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning, and who will protect them from Allah’s punishment?!

Whoever turns away from Allah’s call and so wrongs both himself and others, but then realizes that what he did was wrong, repents, and turns to Allah, will find Him forgiving.

And whoever stubbornly persists in his shirk, his disbelief, and his hypocrisy and dies without returning to Allah’s call has wronged himself.

Allah knows best who does what, and for whom and by what standard each lives his life.

And whoever commits a sin, minor or major, and then pins it on an innocent person has committed a very grave offense and taken on a great sin.

O Prophet! Thanks to Allah’s protection and care and His warning, those who associate partners with Allah and those hypocrites, despite wanting it badly and striving hard, could not make you give wrong rulings and lead you astray. They cannot harm you, for Allah has sent down the Quran to you, shown you through it what is right and what is wrong, taught you what you did not know, and directed you to the right path. Surely Allah’s Book is a very great grace.

There is no good in the secret talks of those who deny the truth when they gather among themselves. But there is good in the believers coming together and conferring, even in secret, to reach their goals, help one another, do some good work, or reconcile believers who have fallen out. For these works, done to win Allah’s good pleasure, there is a great reward.

And whoever opposes the Prophet and chooses another way after the right path has been conveyed to him through the Quran, Allah leaves him to his own choice and condemns him to punishment in Hell.

Allah does not forgive those who associate partners with Him by taking other gods alongside Him. But He forgives whom He wills sins other than associating partners with Allah. Who could be more astray and ungrateful than one who presumes to be a partner in His rulings over the governing of what He has created?!

Some of those who associate partners with Allah also sanctify and make idols of females (beings to whom they gave female names), believing that, alongside Allah, these will make their worldly lives better. By doing so they in fact fall into Satan’s trap and so worship them.

Yet Allah had cursed Satan and driven him from His presence. Thereupon Satan said: “I too will lead some of Your servants astray and make them my followers. I will draw them away from Your path and send them chasing after vain fancies. I will command them to cut the ears of sacrificial animals according to idolatrous custom, and I will make them corrupt and alter the forms and the innate nature (fitra) of what Allah has created.”

Do not forget that those who turn away from Allah’s call, take Satan as a friend, and follow him suffer a very great loss. Satan makes such people empty promises and keeps them busy with vain fancies; Satan’s promises are nothing but confusing and beguiling minds and deceiving them. The destination of those who follow Satan is Hell, and there is no way out of it.

Those who do their utmost to live the order and morality of Islam to which they are invited, Allah will place in Gardens through which rivers flow, the home of happiness, where they will remain forever. This is Allah’s promise to the believers, and He never goes back on His word. Who could be truer in word than Allah?

Allah will punish those who associate partners with Him, those who deny the truth, and the hypocrites with the punishment they deserve; this does not depend on the boundless hopes and wishes of being forgiven that either you or the People of the Book like to entertain and display.

The truth is that whoever has lived without heeding Allah’s limits and without reckoning with the Hereafter will be punished with the punishment he deserves, and will find no one to help him against Allah.

And whoever, male or female, believes in Allah’s call and lives striving to fulfill what it requires will not be wronged in the least and will be rewarded with Paradise.

Who could be better than one who submits himself to his Lord and follows the religion of Abraham, who had cleansed himself completely of shirk and disbelief? Allah took Abraham as a friend.

All that is in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Allah, and the right to establish authority over His dominion, to lay down rulings, and to govern belongs to Allah alone.

Allah has created everything with His knowledge and encompassed it with His power.

O Prophet! They ask you about Allah’s rulings concerning women; say to them: “Allah makes known the rulings on this matter as occasion arises. Indeed, Allah has made clear to you through the Quran His rulings concerning the widows and orphan girls whom you wish to marry without wanting to give them their dowers, and concerning young children, the fatherless and orphans, who are unable to claim their rights of inheritance.” So fulfill your responsibilities in these matters as they have been made known to you. Following what Allah makes known is for your own good.

If a woman fears that her family life will come to an end because of her husband’s unfaithfulness, quarrelsomeness, and indifference, let her try to resolve their problems by talking them over, coming to an understanding, and making sacrifices. Reconciliation is better than separation. There is jealousy and selfishness in human nature too, but Allah has created human beings with the strength to control and overcome these feelings. If you suppress these feelings, lessen their hold on you, and behave with the grace and maturity that the bond of marriage requires, Allah too will help you. Do not forget that Allah is aware of all that you do.

If you are married to more than one woman, however much you may wish to and however careful and attentive you may be, you cannot establish complete justice among your wives. At least do not incline wholly or excessively toward one of them, shutting out the other or others and leaving her in limbo, as if she both had a husband and had none. If you find a middle way, fulfill your responsibilities toward them, and live together kindly, Allah will forgive your small faults. Allah is most merciful and compassionate toward the believers who do their best in this matter.

If, despite efforts at reconciliation, husband and wife still decide to separate, Allah will, by His grace, let them live without need of one another, and perhaps grant them better spouses. Allah’s blessing and mercy are very vast.

All that is in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Allah. Through the prophets and Books We sent, We commanded you, and those before you, to live by the order and morality of Islam, which is the reason for your creation, and to guard against disobedience and ingratitude to Allah. If you turn away from Allah’s call and rebel, do not forget that Allah is the true Owner of what is in the heavens and on the earth, that He has no need of anything, and that it is Allah alone who is worthy of thanks and praise.

The right to govern what is in the heavens, on the earth, and between them belongs to Allah alone, its Owner. There is no god but Him, nor any guardian worthy of trust.

O people! Allah, who brought you into being from nothing, can, if He wills, do away with you and bring others in your place. Allah’s power suffices for everything.

Whoever desires the blessings of this world, let him know that the true Owner of the blessings of both this world and the Hereafter is Allah; but a person is allowed to enjoy the blessings of this world only for a short time, whereas the blessings of the Hereafter are to be enjoyed without end and are far more beautiful.

Allah knows best who seeks what, and is aware of everything.

O you who believe! Do not depart from justice, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your closest relatives; bear witness rightly for Allah’s sake, and never let it slip from your minds that Allah sees and knows whether you uphold justice or not. Whether the person you bear witness about is rich or poor, say what is right for Allah’s sake, and do not forget that Allah’s right over you is far greater than the right of any of them over you. So do not distort justice by twisting your tongues under the influence of your own desires and attachments. Surely Allah is aware of what you do.

O you who believe! Believe in Allah, His Prophet, the Quran He has sent, and the Books He sent before; live holding fast to the life to which you are invited, and never compromise on it. Whoever does not believe and have faith in the Books Allah has sent, His prophets, His angels, and the Day of the Hereafter has fallen into utter error and is sunk in shirk and disbelief.

Those who, after believing and having faith in Allah, the Books He has sent, the prophets, the angels, and the Day of the Hereafter, turn away from these truths, return to shirk and disbelief, and stubbornly persist in them, Allah will never pardon and never again accept onto His right path. A terrible punishment awaits such two-faced people in Hell.

Do they think that by abandoning the believers and taking those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth as friends they will be honored and esteemed among them? But the truth is that honor and esteem are attained only by being with Allah.

Allah plainly makes known this ruling of His to those who believe: if you are in a place where Allah’s verses are denied and mocked, leave the company of those who show this disrespect until they move on to another subject; otherwise you will become like them.

Without doubt Allah will gather those who associate partners with Him, those who deny the truth, and the hypocrites together in Hell.

O you who believe! The hypocrites always have their eyes on you. When Allah grants you a victory, they at once run to you and say, “We were with you all along.” But if those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth gain a success, they then run to them and say, “Did we not support you by not supporting these believers? We also told you beforehand of the dangers that might come from them.” For what they do, Allah will give them the penalty they deserve on the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning. Allah will not let those who associate partners with Him, those who deny the truth, and the hypocrites prevail over the believers.

The hypocrites, in their own minds, are trying to deceive Allah, but Allah will bring their traps to nothing and show their true faces. They rise for the prayer reluctantly, dragging their feet, and pray not because they believe wholeheartedly but for show, and they bring Allah to mind very little. These hypocrites waver back and forth between faith and disbelief, belonging neither to this side nor to that. You cannot turn back to what is right those who stubbornly persist in such error and will not give it up.

O you who believe! Never abandon the believers and take those who associate partners with Allah, those who deny the truth, and the hypocrites as friends. Otherwise you too will have set out plain proof for Allah to punish you. The hypocrites will burn in the lowest depths of Hell, and they will find no one to help them. But those who repent, devote their religion to Allah alone, and sincerely fulfill their responsibilities toward Him will be forgiven and rewarded together with the believers.

If you give thanks and believe, why should Allah punish you? Allah rewards thankfulness and knows everything.

Allah does not love the open speaking of evil words, except by one who has been wronged. Surely Allah hears everything and knows everything.

Whether you disclose a good deed or conceal it, or pardon an evil, know that Allah is most forgiving and has power to do everything He wills.

Those who separate belief in Allah from belief in His prophets and choose the path of denying the prophets are those who waver between faith and disbelief. These are the true deniers, who prefer disbelief to faith. We have prepared a very severe punishment in Hell for those who deny the truth.

As for those who believe in Allah and His prophets and make no distinction between any of the prophets, Allah will give them their rewards. He is most forgiving and merciful.

O Prophet! The People of the Book say they want to see a Book being sent down to you from the sky. They had asked Moses for an even greater miracle, that he show them Allah. For this tactlessness and insolence of theirs they were shaken by a violent quake. Moreover, despite so many divine warnings and miracles and clear verses from Allah, they went and sanctified the calf statue made of gold and took it as a god. Then, when they repented of this shirk and turned to what is right, We forgave them, and supported and strengthened Moses with a Book that invites to Allah’s call.

After their repentance, We raised Mount Sinai above them as witness to the pledges they gave that they would take no god but Allah and would believe in and follow the order of life that is His call.

Long ago We said to them, “Enter this city near you humbly and respectfully toward its people, and never let the Sabbath (Saturday) ban on hunting slip from your minds; do not neglect to keep it.” They too gave their word that they would heed the warnings, but even so they did not keep their word. After a while, along with turning away from Allah’s verses and returning to shirk and disbelief, they killed their prophets. Their followers, who walk in their footsteps, now say to you: “Our hearts are closed to accepting what you say; we are not interested in your call; go and tell it to others, and leave us alone!” Because of this ungrateful attitude their hearts have grown blind, and now they do not believe.

These who claim to be People of the Book had also uttered a monstrous slander against Mary, and moreover said, “We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary.” Yet they neither killed Jesus nor crucified him; they only thought so. In fact, those who said they had crucified Jesus were themselves confused as to whether the one they crucified was Jesus or not, and in that matter they followed conjecture. What is certain is that they did not kill Jesus. Allah caused Jesus to die by a death they could not know, and raised him to a high station.

Allah’s power suffices for everything; no one can stand in the way of His decree.

All those who did not believe in Jesus’ prophethood and opposed his call, and who, though they said they killed him by crucifixion, were not sure whether the one they crucified was Jesus, firmly came to believe, before they breathed their last, the truth that the one they had killed was not Jesus. On the Day of Resurrection Jesus will bear witness against them concerning what they sought to do.

Because those Jews did not keep their word, disobeyed Allah and the prophets, tried to prevent people from living the order of life that is Allah’s call, took riba, which Allah had forbidden, and consumed people’s property by unjust means, We made unlawful for them certain clean and good foods We had earlier made lawful. And in the Hereafter, too, We have prepared a very severe punishment for these ungrateful people.

Among them there are, though few, believers deeply grounded in knowledge, who believe in the Quran sent down to you, and in the prophets before you and the Books Allah sent down, perform their prayers, pay their zakat, and believe in the Day of the Hereafter. To them too We will give great rewards.

O Prophet! We have revealed the Quran to you just as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him; just as We also revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and his sons, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and gave David the Psalms; and besides the prophets whose stories We have told you before and whose names We have made known to you, We also revealed to prophets whose stories We have not told you and whose names We have not made known to you. And to Moses too We conveyed Our word.

We sent all the prophets as warners and bearers of good news, to make known to people the purpose of their creation and invite them to live the life that accords with this purpose. So people will have no excuse such as saying, “We knew nothing of the reason for our creation or of this call of Allah.” Allah does everything in its proper place and is the Possessor of supreme knowledge, power, and judgment.

Allah is Himself witness to the Quran He has sent down to you with His own knowledge, and the angels too bear witness to it; yet Allah suffices as witness.

Those who deny and keep others from Allah’s call have surely strayed from the right path. Allah will never pardon such people; they have conditioned themselves to deny the truth. In the end they will be cast into the Hell they deserve, to remain there. That is no hard thing for Allah.

O people! The Prophet, Allah’s messenger, has brought you a divine Book that makes known the reason for your creation and how you should live accordingly. For your own good, believe in his call and fulfill what it requires. If you do not accept this truth and turn away, know well that Allah has no need of your faith.

All that is in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Allah. Everyone and everything obeys Him except those who associate partners with Him and deny the truth. Allah, who establishes the order of His creation in the most perfect way and lays down its laws and sustains them, is the Possessor of knowledge and judgment.

O you who claim to follow the Gospel! Guard against the excesses invented in the Gospel, which has been torn from its original and altered, about Allah and His prophet Jesus son of Mary, and turn to the truth made known through the Quran.

The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, is a servant and messenger of Allah, a prophet whom Allah created in Mary’s womb and brought into the world. So now give up these fabrications that are contrary to the truth, and believe in the Quran and the Prophet. Do not say that Allah is three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for your own good give up this baseless belief and be saved. Allah is the one God, and Allah is far above taking a son. All that is in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Allah; there is no true god but Him, and the authority to lay down rulings over His creation belongs to Him alone.

The Messiah Jesus, like the angels, would never shrink from serving Allah, nor would he ever be ungrateful or insolent toward Him or behave arrogantly. And whoever is ungrateful to Allah and, growing arrogant and insolent, takes other gods alongside Him, let him know well that Allah will give him his penalty on the Day of Reckoning.

Allah will bring to His finest blessings and reward those who believe in His call and strive to live accordingly, and settle them in His Gardens to remain forever. But those who turn away from Allah’s call in arrogance and conceit He will condemn to the punishment of Hell, where they will remain forever; there they will find no helper to protect and save them from the punishment.

O people! The Quran has been conveyed to you as a light from your Lord and as a guide made up of His verses.

Those who believe in and hold fast to the call the Prophet makes in Allah’s name through the Quran, Allah will bring out of darkness into light and lead to happiness with His mercy and bounty.

O Prophet! The believers ask you for Allah’s ruling concerning those who have no first-degree heirs. Say to them: “Allah makes known to you these rulings of His concerning them.”

If a man dies leaving no child and he has a sister, half the inheritance belongs to that sister. If a woman dies childless and leaves a single brother, the whole inheritance is that brother’s. But if the man who dies childless leaves two sisters, two-thirds of the inheritance belong to these sisters. If the deceased man leaves brothers and sisters, then the male is given two shares and the female one. Allah makes these rulings of His clear to you so that you do not go astray and err. Allah alone knows the one absolute truth of everything.